Road-sanding machine



Nav. 8, 1949 1.. E. WITTER ROAD-SANDING MACHINE 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 1948 Ja J9 JNVENTOR. WWW

ATTORNEY.)

Nov. 8, 1949' L. E. WITTER 2,487,3

ROAD-SANDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 10, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Z 91E. M770 E; A TTORNEYJ Patented Nov. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROAD-SANDING MACHINE Lloyd E. Witter, smegma. Application February 10, 1948, Serial No..7,35,8

3 Claims.

1 This invention relates to improvements in roadsanding machines, and more particularly to such a machine provided as a trailer unit for attachment to a sand-carrying truck.

It is among the objects of the invention to pro vide a road-sanding machine in the form of a trailer for a sand-carrying truck, which machine develops operating power from its own supporting wheels, is operative to meter sand at'a substantially constant rate so that all of a stretch of road will be adequately sanded without wastage of sand and without any unsanded portions of. the road, which is quickly and easily attached to and detached from trucks of different manufacture, is of such an overall height as to carry a sand receiving hopper just below the rear end of the body or box of a truck to which the machine is attached, which delivers the sand at high velocity in front of the truck so that the same is evenly spread over the road ahead of the truck, thereby maintaining adequate traction for the truck on icy or otherwise slippery roads, and which machine is simple, durable and economical in construction, substantially automatic in operation,

and is substantially free of any necessity for re- 'pair or adjustment.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: c

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fragmentary rear portion of a truck showing a road-sanding machine illustrative of the invention attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of the road-sanding machine illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the road-sanding machine illustrated in Figure 2, a portion being broken away and shown in cross-section to better illustrate the construction thereof;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross-section taken substantially in the plane of the section line 4-4 of Figure 2; Y

Figure 5 is a transverse cross-section of the road-sanding machine taken substantially in the plane of the section line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal cross-section of a dog clutch shown in Figure 2 near the lower left-corner thereof.

With continued reference to the drawings, Figure 1 clearly illustrates the manner of attaching the sanding machine to a conventional sandcarrying truck and shows the proportionate size of the sanding machine relative to the size of the the upper end thereof.

truck. It will be noted that the over-all height of the sanding machine is such as to position the sand-receiving hopper at the top of the machine just below the rear end of the truck body so that sand mayfbe fed into the hopper by tilting the body in the conventional manner of dump trucks, as clearly illustrated in Figure 1.

The sanding machine itself has a frame comprisingia pair of spaced-apart, substantially parallel frame side members [0 connected at their rear ends by a cross-member H. A respective upstanding hook I2 is securedto the forward end of each frame side member in anda hooked arm [3 is pivotally connected'to each hook l2 adjacent v "Respective tension springs [4. are connected at their upper ends to therear ends of the arms l3, and at their lower ends to'respective staple members l5 secured to the frame side members.

"As illustrated in Figure 1, the hooks l2 are adapted to hook over a frame cross-member I6 of the truck and the hooked ends of the arms I3 engage under the frame cross-member l5 and are held in operative engagement therewith by the springs [4 to thereby releasably attach the sanding machine to the sand-carrying truck. Hooks 12 are provided with respective series of spaced.- apart apertures l l so that these hooks may be adjustably connected to the front ends of the frame side members ID 'to thereby accommodate this connection to trucks of different heights above the ground. a I.

An axle I8 is secured beneath the frame by legs l9 extending downwardly from the frame side members [0 anda pair of road wheels 20 are secured one on each end of the axle IS. The axle [8 extends transversely below the frame adjacent the rear end thereof.

A hollow, T-shaped body, generally indicated at 2 l, is carried by the frame. This body comprises a cylindrical, transverse bottom portion 22 which is normally horizontal, and which extends transverselyof the frame with its ends immediately below and secured to the frame side members It],

and an upright portion 23, of rectangular crosssection, which extends upwardly from the portion 22 near the horizontal center thereof and communicates therewith. A sand-receiving hopper 24 is supported on the upper end of the body portion 23 at a level just below the rear end of the box 'or bod of the sand-carrying truck.

A blower casing 25 is supported at one end of the transverse body portion 22 and communicates with the interior thereof and a fan 26 is rotatable within the casing 25 and is journaled on a fan shaft 26 which extends through the casing and inwardly thereof.

A gear casing 21 extends upwardly from the transverse body portion 22 between the blower casing 25 and the adjacent frame side member it and a second gear casing 28 overlies the end of the body portion 22 opposite the blower casing 25 and extends upwardly therefrom. The gear casings 21 and 28 are thin in proportion to the base areas thereof and each encloses a train of gears, the purpose of which will presently appear.

A screen 29 is mounted transversely in the body portion 23 at the bottom of a side opening in the body portion and an agitator 3i is rotatably mounted in the body portion 23 immediately above the screen 29. The agitator 3! is shown as a short length of spiral screw or auger and is secured on a shaft 32 which extends transversely through the body portion 23 and into the gear casings 2! and 28, bein journaled in the body portion and in the gear casings by suitable bearings 33. A spur gear 34 is secured on the end of shaft 32 in the gear casing 28 and a gear 35 larger than the gear 34 is secured on the end of shaft 32 within the gear casing 21. s

When the shaft 32 is rotated, the agitator 3| will move the sand over the screen 29 so that the loose grains of sand will fall through the screen. Any large pieces of stone or gravel, frozen lumps of sand and lumps of salt will be moved by the spiral screw agitator 3| through the side opening 39 from which they are directed downwardly and outwardly by a chute 36 extending outwardly from the corresponding side of body portion 23 around the lower part of opening 30.

Sand passing through the screen 29 falls through the lower part of body portion 23 and into the transverse body portion 22. A spiral screw or auger 3'? is rotatably mounted in body portion 22 to move the sand from the lower end of the body portion 23 into the blower casing 25. This spiral screw or auger 3! is mounted on a shaft 38, one end of which extends into the gear casing 28 and has a spur gear 39 secured thereon within the gear casing.

An idler gear 40 is disposed within the gear casing 28 and in mesh with the gears 34 and 39. This idler gear is mounted on a shaft 4| journaled in a bearin support 42 extending upwardly from the corresponding frame side member ID. A spur gear 43 is journaled on the axle I8 and meshes with gear 39. One dog clutch component 44 is provided on the side of gear 43 facing the adjacent wheel 29 and the complementary dog clutch component 45 is slidably mounted on axle i8 and drivingly connected therewith by suitable means, such as a key 46 secured in the axle and slidably received in a keyway 41 provided in the axle-receiving bore of the clutch component 45. When the clutch components 44 and 45 are in engagement, as illustrated in Figure 2, gear 43 will be driven when the road wheels 20 rotate. This drive may be manually disconnected by operation of a lever 48 pivotally mounted intermediate its length to the outer end of a bracket 49 secured to rear frame member I! and extending outwardly therefrom, said lever having a fork 5E operatively engaged in an annular groove 5! provided in the clutch component 45. A coil compression spring 52 surrounding the axle between clutch component 45 and the hub of the adjacent Wheel 20 acts to resiliently urge the clutch component 45 into engagement with the complementary clutch component 44.

When the gear 43 is driven by the wheels 20, the gears 39, 4B and 34 will be driven in the gear casing 28 and the gear 35 will be driven in gear casin 27 by the shaft 32. A gear 53 is secured on blower fan shaft 26 within gear casing 21 and meshes with gear 35 so that the fan 26 will be driven Whenever the gear 35 is driven in the manner indicated above. The gear ratios are so proportioned that the spiral screw members or augers 3i and 3'! are driven at a relatively slow speed, while the fan 26 is driven at a high speed to force the sand from the blower casing 25 through the outlet neck 54 of the blower casing and the elongated flexible conduit 55 at a high speed.

The flexible conduit 55 preferably extends longitudinally of the truck from the blower of the sanding machine to a location somewhat in advance of the truck where it is provided with a distributing nozzle 56 to spread the sand ahead of the truck.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respect as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A road-sanding inachinefor attachment to the rear of a sand carrying truck, said machine comprising a frame including a pair of side frame members and a cross-member at one end thereof, spring-operated hooks on the front ends of said side members adapted to engage a frame crossmember of said truck, an axle below said frame,

a pair of wheels disposed one at each end of said axle, a hollow, T-shaped body having a normally horizontal, cylindrical portion extending transversely of said frame below said side members and secured at its ends thereto, and an upright portion opening at its lower end into said horizontal portion substantially at the longitudinal center thereof, a hopper supported upon the upper end of said upright portion at a level to underliethe rear end of a truck body, a pair of gear casings supported on said horizontal body portion, one

adjacent each frame side member, a blower casing at one end of said horizontal body portion and communicating with the interior thereof, a fan in said blower casing, a sand-cleaning screen and agitator in the upper portion of said upright body portion, said upright body portion having a side outlet therein above said screen for objects too large to pass through the screen, an auger in said horizontal body portion for feeding sand into said blower, a train of gears in each of said gear casings operative to drive said agitator, said fan and said auger, a manually-operated clutch drivingiy connected between one of said gears and one of said wheels, and a flexible conduit extending forwardly from said blower.

2. A road sander for attachment to the rear of a sand-carrying truck, said sander comprising, an axle, a pair of wheels secured to said axle one at each end thereof, a frame supported on said axle, a body mounted on said frame and having a sand-receiving hopper at the upper end thereof, a sand-cleaning screen and agitator in said body below said hopper, a blower at one side of said body communicating with the lower portion 5 thereof, means in the lower portion of said body for feeding sand into said blower, and means driven by said axle operative to drive said agitator, said blower and said sand-feeding means at respectively diiTerent speeds.

3. A road sander for attachment to the rear of a sand-carrying truck, said sander comprising, an

axle, a pair of wheels secured to said axle one at each end thereof, a frame supported on said axle, a body mounted on said frame and having a sandreceiving hopper at the upper end thereof, a sandcleaning screen and agitator in said body below said hopper, a blower at one side of said body communicating with the lower portion thereof, means in the lower portion of said body for feeding sand into said blower, means driven by said axle operative to drive said agitator, said blower and said sand-feeding means at respectively different speeds, said axle-driven means including a manually-operated clutch.

LLOYD E. WITTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: I

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

